


By Force

by Sashataakheru



Series: Taskmaster Advent Calendar 2020 [17]
Category: Taskmaster (UK TV) RPF, The Crystal Maze (TV)
Genre: Blindfolds, D/s, Disloyalty, Disobedience, Escape Plans, Forests, Gags, Isolation, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical Powers AU, Master/Slave, Ownership, Possession, Punishment, Regrouping, Restraints, Rough handling, Running Away, Scavenging for Food, Taskmaster Advent Calendar, Temporary Amnesia, camping out, failures, living dolls, villain AU, woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:21:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28341552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashataakheru/pseuds/Sashataakheru
Summary: Dec 23: DistanceHis master is angry, that's all Alex knows, as he's carried over his master's shoulder, escaping from something that his vague memories suggest went horribly, horribly wrong.
Relationships: Greg Davies/Alex Horne
Series: Taskmaster Advent Calendar 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035561
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	By Force

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt, 'distance', for the Taskmaster Advent Calendar 2020. [Table and fills are here.](https://3evilmuses.dreamwidth.org/85718.html)
> 
> Apparently I'm writing these out of order, but that's what you get when I've spent 3 of the past four days with the Tiny Children and having no time or energy to write. D: Will catch up when I can. <3 
> 
> Also this is basically the aftermath of what I was writing for NaNo, so now I have to figure out how to work backwards from here woooo. XD ty Greg, much appreciated.

Alex had not, in the end, needed to be kidnapped. The Taskmaster still carried him over his shoulder through the woods anyway, just to make a point. Alex being bound, gagged, and blindfolded, had also been mostly for show. By now, Alex was far too loyal to his master to want to escape. 

They'd been walking for an hour, perhaps, though Alex wasn't really sure. He was just aware of being carried and the rage that filled his master's body. They were clearly going somewhere else, somewhere to go into hiding, but Alex clearly wasn't allowed to know where. 

Eventually, Alex was dumped onto some sort of soft ground with a finality that suggested they'd reached a stopping point. He could hear his master pacing, stones dropping to the ground, then some warmth as a fire was lit, and then Alex was being grabbed and pulled up by the front of his shirt as the blindfold was ripped off. 

"You are _mine_ , boy. You will _never_ serve any other master than me, understood?" the Taskmaster said, his voice filled with anger. 

Alex nodded. He was still gagged so couldn't reply. If he was honest, the last thing he remembered was his master charging into their hideout, furious with him. And then he didn't really remember much before he was being carried through the woods over his shoulder. 

"Fucking- stay there. I'll be back," the Taskmaster said as he left Alex leaning against a rock. 

Alex watched him go, aware now that he was sitting on some grass underneath some sort of rocky outcrop. It was cold, but dry, and the sun was slowly setting around them. The woods stretched out, swallowing the Taskmaster's retreating figure. 

Something had definitely gone wrong. Perhaps that last plan had been sabotaged in some way. That might explain the Taskmaster's anger. It felt very much like the Taskmaster had discovered something that had made him flee, and he'd taken Alex with him as if he was his own property, which wasn't exactly inaccurate. Alex had bound himself to the Taskmaster a long time ago, and had no desire to be released from him. 

Alex wondered idly how long they'd be out here for. There didn't seem to be any sort of habitation in sight, so he'd better get used to sleeping on grass, unless there was some sort of secret base here. He wouldn't put it past the Taskmaster to have a plan B up his sleeve if he needed to run away. 

As he leaned against the rock, Alex went over what he did remember of their plans. His master had been trying to get something back, that much he remembered. He couldn't remember what, or from whom, though. Just- well, just an explosion, and people screaming. Maybe even himself screaming? Then - _oh_. Now he remembered. Ayoade. Fuck.

Alex sighed. He never imagined he'd ever meet someone as powerful as his master. There was nothing to do about it, though, not yet, anyway. His master was clearly agitated and in need of calming before they could think of their next move. 

Just as he was drifting off, out of a mixture of boredom and hunger, an invisible force slammed into him, shoving him against the rocky wall behind him. A face pressed very close to his own, and piercing dark eyes stared back at him. The voice that spoke was angry and taunting and Alex knew exactly who it was.

 _"Run all you want, boy, I'll always find you. No one ever escapes the Crystal Maze. I will finish you completely."_

Alex shivered, unable to reply, as the face vanished, and he was let go. He knew enough about magic to know that was Not A Good Sign, but what could they do about it? 

His master trudged back then, a skinned rabbit carcass in hand that was unceremoniously thrown on the fire, before he sat down next to Alex.

"You stink of him, you bastard. I should kill you now so you can't betray me again," His master said, grasping Alex's hair roughly.

Alex shook his head, quite sure he would never have betrayed him. His master untied him then and grabbed his left forearm. Alex could only watch as his master magically branded him, making sure everyone knew who Alex belonged to. 

"You are mine forever, boy. You're never leaving my side now. I'll make sure you do exactly as I say, because you can't be trusted anymore. You'll be just a puppet for me. A doll I can use however I want. One I can burn to pieces if you betray my heart again, Alex. Perhaps someone else would kill you and let you go, but that man touched _my property_ without permission, and I won't stand for that. You're _mine_ , Alex. _Mine_." His master roughly removed the gag. "Who do you belong to, boy?"

"You, master, always and only you, master," Alex said.

His master grasped the back of his head and shoved his face very close to the fire, enough to make his skin hot. "Try it again and you'll be the one burnt to a crisp."

"I-I won't, I promise," Alex said.

"Yeah, I've heard that before, you piece of shit. We're staying long enough to eat, then we're going to keep moving. It's not safe here," his master said.

"Yes, master," Alex replied.

Silence fell then, as they waited for the meat to cook. It wasn't the best meal he'd ever eaten either, but in spite of his fury, his master clearly still wanted Alex to be alive, so he ate everything he was given and was grateful for it as the Taskmaster tied him up again after he'd extinguished the fire. Alex found himself pulled up and thrown over his master's shoulder as they went deeper into the woods. 


End file.
